Thursday, August 28, 2008

I'm feeling depressed now due to my utter inability to hear Japanese phrases. I'm referring to my Japanese listening, of course. I think most people don't realise that A level Japanese is such a difficult subject to score in. Seriously. Most of us would be ELATED to get an A. It seems so far out of reach! We were the best of our cohort in secondary school and now we have to try to be the best of the best. Plus we get practically zero exposure to Japanese in our daily lives. We have to take our own initiative to read and listen to Japanese. Students really take the resources given for granted. In a subject like Japanese or KI self-study is the word. Also, the achievements of some of my classmates in the language go largely unnoticed.

My classmate said after the horrible test today that the experience alone of going to Japan made studying h2 Japanese worth it. That's the kind of passion you get from a student of Japanese. I don't think you can find this level of passion from all students of, say, Physics. What has kept me going all this while is my passion for the language and culture and my supportive classmates. Everyone tries to help each other and we sincerely want everyone to do well.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Brilliant actress, adventurous dressing. How brave is she to wear that hairstyle?

On the other hand... my Japanese paper today was EXTREMELY difficult. I enjoy studying the language; I just wish it didn't have to be such a struggle. Perhaps the problem lies with me. I'm not doing enough.

By now you should have figured out that trying on outfits is our favourite sister-bonding activity. Here are some more outifts revolving around our long white gypsy skirt, which has proven to be incredibly versatile:

Sunday, August 24, 2008

That's a quote from a poem by Sylvia Plath in my lit. paper. It reminded me of this cute vintage dress:

Balloons in the air! Whee!

Ok, I hope my analysis is not going to get LAUGHED AT. I'm feeling absolutely mortified now by what I wrote. This always happens after a lit. test- delayed reaction. For the initial stages after the test I feel ok, and then realisation sinks in- "what did I just write?!!" I had a really hard time making a mental connection between babies and museums. Both occur in the same poem. Then after the test, Silvia promptly informed me that she finds it hard to decipher the meaning of Sylvia Plath's poems and that's why she picked the other question. Thanks, Sil...

Almost every week I have a new obsession. This time it's vests, especially ethnic vests. I just love the details on such vests like beads, embroidery etc. I recently scooped up an embroidered denim vest for $5. I guess it was discounted because no one likes to wear such things. When it comes to layering with vests, no one does it better than the Japanese: